The Royal Opera House needs help creating 1000 birds

[simonroh]

Hi,

I am not strictly an origami enthusiast - however I am learning fast. I thought this might be a good place to ask for help. I work for the Royal Opera House and we have a contemporary arts festival on 3, 4, 5 September and we need help making 1000 birds for an art installation, please? Below is the request in in full - I hope some of you can help and maybe come along the to festival as well. Thanks.

S.

As part of this year’s Deloitte Ignite, curated by Joanna MacGregor, the Royal Opera House is calling on all origami enthusiasts and people willing to have a go to help make 1000 paper birds for Kathy Hinde’s art installation, One Thousand Birds.

Kathy Hinde’s impressive video and sound installation One Thousand Birds, is created with composer Matthew Fairclough. Video imagery will be projected onto a hanging of one thousand recycled-paper cranes, causing the images to fragment, distort and spill onto the surrounding walls. The space is filled with a surround sound composition by Matthew Fairclough created from recordings of larks. The song of the lark is said to have been the only sound heard on the battle fields at the end of the First World War. Each crane represents a wish for peace. Some of the contributions to the mass of cranes will have been made by local school children and families; however, Kathy Hinde is also calling all festival attendees to contribute their own paper birds ahead of the festival. With full folding instructions on the Deloitte Ignite website, each attendee can create their own part of the installation and either drop it off at the Royal Opera House or send it to our freepost address – full details and folding instructions are at http://www.roh.org.uk/deloitteignite

The inspiration behind Kathy Hinde’s installation is the story of Sadako Sasaki. At the age of 12, Sadako Sasaki developed leukaemia as a result of radiation from the bombing of Hiroshima. She remembered the Japanese myth that anyone folding a thousand paper cranes is granted a wish. She attempted to fold 1000, in a wish for Peace, but only managed 644 before she died – her friends finished the rest for her so she could be buried with 1000 birds. A statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was built at Hiroshima Peace Park in memory of her. Every year on peace day, people from all over the world fold paper cranes and send them to Sadako’s statue.


For Deloitte Ignite 2010 Joanna MacGregor has taken her inspiration from forests: forests as a place of quiet, reflective beauty mystery and discovery; as places of fairytale narrative as well as metaphorical spaces. She has invited artists to create forests all over the Royal Opera House in different materials including recycled and reclaimed wood, organic materials, old costumes and mannequins, shimmering projections and origami birds. There are films, music and dance performances, soundscapes and installations. In amongst the forests are hints of the forthcoming Season as well as echoes of Covent Garden’s old flower market.

[CaiMcKtlin]

I like Joanna MacGregor very much. I dislike Deloitte more though - I won't fold a bird for them. I'll ask a friend to though.

[Ondrej.Cibulka]

It is about 1000 cranes, as I red correctly. Why do you need a help? I fold 1000 cranes for 10 days. And 1000 cranes is really small amount and small thing overall.

[joshuaorigami]

just get 30 people you know to fold 25 cranes each
(if ive worked that out correctly)

[oz]

Might want to check your math there Joshua... You'd be folding 750 cranes! Try either 40 people at 25 cranes each or 20 people at 50 cranes each...

-oz

[simonroh]

Well, we thought it might be a nice thing for people to do - so that they can have something they have created as part of an art installation and actually come and see it over the weekend. Whether people make 1 or 2 or 300 or 400 all are welcome.

Any help is appreciated.

[joshuaorigami]

Might want to check your math there Joshua... You'd be folding 750 cranes! Try either 40 people at 25 cranes each or 20 people at 50 cranes each...

-oz

darn, thats embarassing

[kousalya]

Great stuff... Im sure they will be really appreciated



Recycled timber